Conventional frame tents, party tents, vestibule tents and common rental tents are readily assembled and disassembled frame structures which incorporate conventional slip fit elements for legs, perimeter and roof support pieces. Supporting legs of conventional tents are spaced at increments of 10 to 20 feet, around the perimeter, along with the related gable, hip or pyramid components needed to support the tent top. These multi-component assemblies provide the structural elements for supporting the fabric tops of these shelters.
Frame tents are normally restricted to an interior span of less than fifty feet wide due to structural requirements. This is because the large span roofs require additional support and cannot be free-standing. Accordingly, tents larger than 50 feet are classified as pole, bail ring tents, clear span beam or truss structures. Conventional large tents require either a center pole (for supporting the roof fabric), a special extrusion material (to be used as a clear-span beam supporting the roof fabric), or multiple structural pieces (for forming a clear-span truss supporting the roof fabric). The multiple structural pieces form the base for tensioning the fabric top between the structural elements.
Pole or bale ring tents require many perimeter support legs, commonly spaced between 5 feet to 15 feet for tensioning the top; while clear span beams or trusses units require multiple purlin spacers to maintain alignment and structural integrity of the support frame and commonly are spaced at varying distances up to 20 feet. The roofs of such tents normally extent above the perimeter frame a distance equal to 25 percent of the width of the tent for frame and pole tents, while structures may extend 25 percent, or more, of the width of the tent from the ground. A standard 20 foot by 20 foot frame tent may have as many as 59 structural elements plus the top; while the quantity of pieces required to setup larger tents increases in both quantity and length of pipes or extruded beams.
The conventional large tent structures also have a roof member which directly supports the center or a portion of the roof. The roof member has been an essential part of the conventional tent structures especially when the tent's size increases requiring larger roof-top material. The roof members are typically positioned inside the tent thereby interrupting the space under the roof of the tent.
The conventional large tents are also heavy, inefficient and costly to produce and maintain. Because of the many structural parts, they provide difficult and time-consuming assembly and disassembly. Moreover, the weight of the fabric-top limits the span of the tent. Accordingly, there is a need for a free-standing structural system that addresses these deficiencies.